The present invention relates to devices for spreading grain type materials or the like on roads, and more specifically to a device installed or adapted on a spreading truck for confined application of these materials along a well-defined path on a roads.
For Northerly countries, winters bring difficult situations onto the road network. A layer of ice or snow often covers the roadway suitable for motor vehicles. As it can be readily understood, this makes road transportation (of merchandise or of people) very dangerous. Winter security on roadways has therefore become an issue for all levels of governments, and especially their maintenance branches. Since they cannot forbid people to travel on roads but still want to avoid frequent occurrences of accidents, they have to make roadways as safe as possible, at all times. One way to keep roadways safe during winter times has been to spread on the roads a melting media, which can either be an abrasive, such as sand or crushed stones, or melting fluxes, such as calcium, salt, or a mix of the like, with salted water if required.
The most commonly used system for such a function has been a truck having a large capacity tank or bin, to hold the melting media, and equipped with a device to constantly and regularly convey amount of melting flux or mix to a rotary disk located below the truck above the roadway. With its centrifugal force this turbine-like rotary disk spreads the stone-like parts of the melting media all over a large perimeter.
Especially when melting fluxes (salt, calcium) are used as the melting media, problems have arisen. Firstly, those compounds are not environmentally friendly and can damage surrounding ecosystems and water reserves, but they are however necessary in some circumstances due to the fact that abrasive (sand, crushed stones) will not generally melt the ice. So in the end, the more effective ways melting fluxes are used, the better. One of the ways to increase melting fluxes"" effectiveness, such as salt, is to spread it with a certain level of concentration. Unfortunately, the centrifugal system of the rotary disk disperses the media too much or on a too large surface for an effective melting operation. With that system, the concentration of the melting fluxes is often too low to be effective, or too much media must be used to attain the required concentration level. Because of the low concentration, some water is usually mixed to the salt or the like to rapidly induce the melting process of the ice or snow. Moreover, if the truck is going at a too high speed, air turbulences created below the truck help even more to disperse the melting fluxes, often pushing them to roadsides where they are totally useless for the melting operation, but still damaging for the environment. Because of this, the truck must travel at a relatively low speed, notwithstanding which media is dispersed. The creation of traffic jams in urban road areas, and more importantly the potential increase of accidents on yet uncovered roadways by the melting operation truck are negative consequences of this low speed operational truck.
As it will be readily understood by anyone skilled in the art, a spreading device that would keep a certain concentration level of melting fluxes would effectively melt the ice initially on the covered area and would also quickly melt the surrounding surfaces. This would furthermore take into account the environmental and accomplishing speed factors.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a spreading device for confined application of grain type materials on roads that obviates the above noted disadvantages.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a spreading device for confined application of grain type materials that creates an effective method to melt ice with minimum damages to the environment.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a spreading device for confined application of grain type materials that decreases an overall quantity of melting materials necessary by increasing the material""s concentration as the media is spread and laid down by a packing member to rest at specific locations (pre-determined paths) on the roads to efficiently start the melting process.
Still an object of the present invention is to provide a spreading device for confined application of grain type materials that is not affected by any air turbulence created between the truck and the road surface when the truck moves at high speed.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a spreading device for confined application of grain type materials that is relatively easy to adapt, install, use and manufacture, and that is not too expensive.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a spreading device for confined application of grain type materials that can be folded when not in use.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a spreading device for confined application of grain type materials that can be installed on vehicles already having a standard rotary disk spreader to allow for selective use of either the standard spreader or the spreader for confined application of grain materials.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a spreading device for confined application of grain type materials that also includes a standard rotary disk spreader to allow for selective use of either one.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided herein, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spreading device for confined application of grain type materials along a well-defined path on a road from a conveyor of a storing tank mounted on a vehicle moving in a forward direction, said device comprises a chute member and a packing member mounted on either sides of said vehicle, said chute member being configured and sized for receiving said materials from said conveyor and substantially dropping said materials generally vertically under gravity directly on said road in proximity and in front of said packing member for stopping and packing said materials on said road along said path, whereby said materials are stopped relative to said road and confined along said path by said packing member as said vehicle moves ahead.
Preferably, the device further comprises a folding mechanism for pivotally securing said device to said vehicle, said folding mechanism positioning said device between an operative unfolded configuration and a non-operative folded configuration relative to said conveyor.
Preferably, the chute member is a generally elongated channel, the latter being inclined between an upper first end located along and adapted for fitting to a free extremity of a feeder of said conveyor and a lower free second end located in proximity of a roller of said packing member when in said operative configuration, said roller being adapted for packing said materials on said road when freely engaging said road in said operative configuration.
Preferably, the folding mechanism has a linear actuator with a first end pivotally secured to said packing member and a second end adapted for pivotally securing to a rigid frame of said vehicle, an elongated guiding member with a first and a second extremities pivotally connected to said packing member and to said chute member respectively, said chute member being adapted for pivotally securing to said conveyor.
Preferably, the guiding member has a third extremity rigidly connected to said first extremity and pivotally connected to said rigid frame of said vehicle, said second extremity being pivotally moving relative to said first and third extremities.
Preferably, the packing member is rigidly secured to said chute member.
Alternatively, the packing member is resiliently secured to said second end of said channel.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the folding mechanism includes a shaft member for rotatably mounting said device on said conveyor and an actuator member rotating said shaft member and said device relative to said conveyor between said operative and non-operative configurations.
Preferably, the actuator member is a linear actuator having an actuating direction essentially perpendicular to an axis of said shaft member with a first end pivotally secured to said conveyor and a second end eccentrically connected to said shaft member.
Preferably, the chute member includes a non-moving part and a moving part rigidly secured to said conveyor and to said shaft member respectively, said non-moving part rotatably and pivotally supporting said shaft member and said first end of said linear actuator respectively, said non-moving part being an extension of said conveyor, receiving said materials from said conveyor and providing said materials to said moving part when said device is in said unfolded configuration.
Preferably, the chute member includes a curtain member for containing said materials in proximity and in front of said a roller of said packing member, said curtain member extending generally downwardly to a position adjacent the road, a front cylindrical portion of an outer surface of said roller forming a closed channel with said curtain member, said outer surface of said roller freely engaging said road in said operative configuration.
Preferably, the packing member includes a biasing member for biasing said roller against said road in said operative configuration.
Preferably, the device further comprises a support structure secured to said shaft member, said support structure supporting a generally horizontal rotary disk member for receiving said materials from said conveyor and widely spreading said materials on said road with a second actuator member spinning said disk member around its longitudinal axis when said device is in said folded configuration, whereby both said disk member and said second actuator member operate with said device in said folded configuration and both said chute member and said packing member operate with said device in said unfolded configuration.
Preferably, the support structure includes a lower part supporting both said disk member and said second actuator member and pivotally mounted on a second shaft with an axis substantially parallel to said direction of said linear actuator and for rotatably mounting said lower part to said conveyor and an upper part pivotally secured to said shaft member and said lower part at a first and a second extremities respectively, said upper part providing a cam action to pivot said lower part around an axis of said second shaft when said shaft member is rotated by said linear actuator, said disk member and packing member being alternately operating with said device in said folded and unfolded configurations respectively.